A Malian woman gave birth in Morocco to nine babies on Tuesday - two more than doctors had detected inside her crowded womb - joining a small pantheon of mothers of nonuplets, Mali's health ministry said.
The pregnancy of Halima Cisse, 25, has fascinated Mali and attracted the attention of its leaders. When doctors in March said Cisse needed specialist care, authorities flew her to Morocco.
Moroccan health ministry spokesman Rachid Koudhari said he had no knowledge of such a multiple birth having taken place in one of the country's hospitals.
But Mali's health ministry said in a statement that Cisse had given birth in Morocco by Caesarean section.
"The newborns (five girls and four boys) and the mother are all doing well," Mali's health minister, Fanta Siby, said in a statement.
Cisse was expected to give birth to seven babies, according to ultrasounds conducted in Morocco and Mali that missed two of the siblings.
Nonuplets are extremely rare. Medical complications in multiple births of this kind often mean that some of the babies do not reach full term.
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